NOTE: This article which
follows originally appeared in a 1956 book 'British Potters and Pottery Today',
is based mainly upon accounts provided mainly by the firms themselves.

For most of London's millions
the name 'Doulton' is inseparably associated with the Thames-side
borough of Lambeth, where the firm was founded in 1815,
and where the headquarters ofthe
Royal Doulton group of companies still remains, hard by Lambeth Bridge. To the
inhabitantsof Staffordshire,
on the other hand, it means more particularly the great modern Royal Doultonpotteries at Burslem, Stoke, Dudley,
and Tamworth.

To us it must mean the story
of a great business which, during the last hundred and fortyyears,
has progressed from the making of coarse stoneware blacking pots (such as the
youthfulDickens used to
fill) and ginger beer bottles ('stone-ginger' was a delight) to become 'Europe'slargest and most versatile pottery
undertaking'.

The story opens in London
in the fateful year of Waterloo, when John Doulton, 22yearsold,
and his friend John Watts together secured an interest in a small pottery in
Vauxhall Walk,Lambeth. John Doulton had
been employed at the Fulham Potteries, founded by Dwight in theseventeenth
century, and had won the reputation of being one of the most skilful throwers
inLondon.

With youthful confidence they
commenced producing wares similar to those made atFulham
– kitchen crockery, blacking pots, ink bottles and the like and at first the
'going' was hard.It is
related that young Doulton would often canvas for his own orders and then go
back to thewheel and throw
them. Also, at first, they broke their clay with a hammer and kneaded it withtheir feet, though later a primitive
clay-mill was set up on a vacant plot, the motive power ofwhich
was supplied by an old blind horse. From such humble beginning the present firm
has grown.

In the first five years they
had progressed sufficiently to encourage them to purchase thebusiness
and in 1826, with a view to possible expansion, they removed to premises in
LambethHigh Street. Like
many other successful adventurers in business Doulton and Watts had the giftor anticipating coining needs and
they lived in a period of great industrial change. Thus about1830
they foresaw an imminent demand by the rising chemical industries for an
acid-resistingsalt-glaze
stoneware and set about enlarging their premises and capacity to meet it. In
other case.too, they proved
themselves to be alert to meet either actual needs or popular fancy. Their well
known 'Reform Bottles' of the 1830's
portraying William IV, Lord Grey, Brougham, Russell, and many other contemporary
celebrities was a case in point, for they proved extremely popular atthe
period of the Reform Bill of 1832.

A milestone in the
history of the firm was the introduction into the business in 1835 of
Doulton's second son, Henry (later to become Sir Henry) at the age of 15. He
learned the hard way ofall beginners, but
such was his aptitude that he quickly mastered all the processes and after twoyears was making twenty-gallon chemical vessels on
the wheel. Early in his career he devised away
of driving the potter's wheel by steam – ten years before any other pottery.

Between 1830 and 1840 much
attention was given to the production of salt-glaze sewerpipes.
Doultons alone among potters fully realised the demand following Sir Edwin
Chadwick's advocacy of improved sanitary conditions. The invention of the
electric telegraph, bringing theneed
for insulators, was an opportunity for Doultons to meet the earliest demands.

John Watts retired in
1854 and the firm became Doulton and Co. Henry Doulton was now infull
command though the creator of the firm lived on until 1873; dying at the age of
80. Meanwhilethe show
of Doulton wares at the Great Exhibition included things which were a departure
fromthe severe utility
hitherto recorded. Garden vases and figures in terra cotta, 'Toby' jugs, such asFulham had made, and Hunting Jugs,
were ornamental wares which shared the distinction oftwo
medals of the First Class.

Except for these types
little attempt was made to make decorated wares until about 1862.At
the Great Exhibition of that year they exhibited a few well-shaped, if simple,
vases in salt-glazeand, from this modest
beginning the now well known 'Doulton Ware' developed. During thetwenty
years or so which followed, Doulton's decorated pottery grew to be a great
success, somuch so that, in 1877, it was
decided to extend this side of the business. To this end an old established
pottery in Burslem was taken over and a staff of designers, modellers and
decorators engaged.

Both at Lambeth and Burslem, designers were given every encouragement to producedesigns of individuality and merit,
so that the names of George Tinworth, the Barlow sisters,Mark
Marshall, Edward Raby, Leslie Johnson, Harry Tittensor, and many others earned
fullrecognition. The Burslem
pottery is one of the group which produces fine bone-china table wares,figures
and glazed ware, among the latter being the well-known 'Rouge Flambe' and
'Sung'.

It
was on the merits of this artistic pottery that, in 1885, the Royal Society of
Arts awardedHenry Doulton the coveted
Albert Medal, and two years later he was knighted by Queen Victoria.

Sir
Henry died in 1897 and
was succeeded by his son Henry Lewis Doulton who had beenwith
the firm from 1873 – a partner since 1881. It was he who formed the business
into a limitedcompany
in 1899.

In 1901, by Royal
Warrant, the right to add 'Royal' to the name of the company set the sealof the highest approval upon their
eighty-six years of endeavour. Royalty have on many occasions paid the Burslem
factory the high compliment of visits, one of the most cherished being when, in1949, H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth, as
she then was, inspected the establishment.

Early in the present century the Royal Doulton Pottery, Burslem, made a notable
contribution to modern
ceramic art by reviving the modelling of English china figures. Without
imitatingthose of the past
they have succeeded in recreating a vogue for charming decorative figures incharacter, as well as a wide range
of animal models, including championship dogs, which, forlife-likeness
and truth of colouring are not to be surpassed. Each is a work of art.

Lewis Doulton resigned
the Chairmanship in 1925 and was succeeded by Lewis J. E. Hooper(grandson
of Sir Henry Doulton), who held this position until his death in 1955.
The presentChairman, Mr. E.
Basil Green, had been Managing Director since 1950.

During the past thirty years
many important developments have taken place, including thetransfer
of most of the manufactures formerly carried out at Lambeth to new works at
Erith andTamworth. Since the
Royal Doulton interests now fall into four clearly defined sections, theCompany's
structure has been reorganised to give each a separate identity, thus promotingefficiency. Four subsidiary
companies have therefore been formed: Doulton Fine China Ltd.,Doulton
Industrial Porcelains Ltd., Doulton Vitrified Pipes Ltd., and Doulton Sanitary
PotteriesLtd.

NOTE: This article which
originally appeared in a 1956 book 'British Potters and Pottery Today', is based
mainly upon accounts provided mainly by the firms themselves.